Misery Loves Company
by lovelyMary
Summary: Alternate ending to episode 2.20. What if Gunnar was the one to sit next to Juliette that night? Juliette/Gunnar friendship.


A/N: This is an alternate ending to episode 2.20. While I've come to accept how the episode actually ended, the muse was intrigued by the fact that Gunnar was at that party too. Let me know what you guys think.

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He made his way through the party trying to mingle and act like he belonged there. He still wasn't quite used to these lavish industry parties and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but feel a little out of place. His eyes quickly scanned the room in an effort to find Layla and Will to let them know that he was probably going to bail soon. He knew that attending these events was important for his budding career but his heart just wasn't in it tonight. It just felt wrong for him to be at a party when Scarlett was across town, in a clinic, going through her own personal hell.

He was just about to give up his search and leave when he saw her. She was sitting alone at the bar, right next to the cocktail ice sculpture; which probably was no accident, judging by how fast she was filling her glass and gulping it down. This was not going to end well.

"Hey," he said softly as she took the seat next to hers.

She stared back at him for a few seconds, her mind fighting through the drunken haze that had started to settle.

"Hey, Gunnar right?"

He nodded as he watched her gulp down the rest of her drink.

"Ugh. This stuff is horrible," she grimaced at her now empty glass before leaning over to fill it once more.

"Uh how many of those have you had?"

She snorted a little at the concerned look on his face.

"It's a party Gunnar. You're not supposed to count drinks," she sipped her drink a little before continuing.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was invited," he said indignantly.

She chuckled a little at his defensiveness.

"Not the party. What are you doing here? Talking to me. Shouldn't you be making the rounds?" she clumsily waved her hand in a circular motion in general direction of the rest of the party goers. "You know, networking, it's kinda the point of these things."

"I think I've done enough networking for one night. Besides, you look like you could use the company."

"Do I?" she laughed humorlessly.

"Look, I know we don't really know each other, but if you need to talk, I'm a pretty good listener."

She set her drink down and looked over at him, carefully evaluating his offer. She wasn't used to talking about her feelings with anyone, let alone someone who was practically a stranger but there was something about the look in his eyes that made her want to temporarily do away with her carefully built defenses.

"How much do you know about Scarlett and Avery's relationship?" she asked softly, not sure if she was really ready to hear the answer. She knew that she was putting him in an awkward position but she was desperate for information and right now Gunnar was the only one who could give it to her.

Gunnar sighed a little, debating the best way to answer her without feeling like he was betraying his friends. He'd had a front row seat to Scarlett and Avery's relationship since they'd come to Nashville and he had to admit that their connection was something he himself had been troubled by when he'd been seeing Scarlett.

He looked back at her, seeing the hurt in her eyes. He knew that this was something she should be talking to Avery about but for whatever reason he was the one she was asking and if he could offer her a little comfort he would.

"Well, I know that they met in college and then when Avery decided to move here, Scarlett came with him," he said trying to keep his answers as generic as possible.

"College, right." Juliette nodded. "Bet _she_ knows all about Fellini."

"Fellini? What the hell is that?" he asked looking at her like maybe all those cocktails were making her loopy.

Juliette smiled a little, relieved that she wasn't the only one who didn't know about Fellini.

"Fellini's a famous Italian film director and screenwriter. Apparently, he's one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century," she said trying to remember what she had read on Wikipedia. "Avery's got a whole bunch of his movies. He's a big fan."

"Oh right him, yeah I...I knew that," he stuttered trying to save face.

Juliette burst out laughing. "Yeah. Sure you did."

"Alright, alright," he raised his hands in mock surrender and laughed along with her. "So maybe I don't know who Felloni is."

"Fellini," she corrected as her laughter subsided.

"Right. Sorry," he gave her a soft smile.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before she turned to him and asked the question that had been plaguing her ever since she left the clinic that morning.

"Do you think he still loves her?" she asked softly as small tears formed in the corner of her eyes betraying her usual tough exterior.

Gunnar took a deep breath. That was the last thing he ever thought she'd ask him.

"Juliette, you know Avery's the only one who can really answer that."

"I know, I just don't think I'm brave enough to actually ask him."

"For what it's worth, I'm pretty damn sure he's crazy about you."

"You think so?"

"Uh, yeah," he said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "I mean the guy gets this stupid dopey look on his face every time your name comes up or you call him."

"Really?"

Gunnar couldn't help but chuckle at the look of bewilderment on her face.

"Yeah, and the other day they were talking about you on this gossip show and his jaw was clenched so tight and twitching, I was sure he was gonna give himself an aneurysm or something."

Juliette looked down at the bar slightly embarrassed. She couldn't even imagine what Gunnar must be thinking right now. Here she was, Juliette Barnes, one of country music's biggest prima donnas, acting like a lovesick teenager. Shaking her head slightly, she looked back up at him.

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure."

"Do you think you could give me a ride home. I really want to get the hell out of here and I don't feel like waiting for my car service."

"Yeah, of course."

He jumped out of his seat and quickly moved to help her down, steadying her as she started to sway a little as soon as her feet hit the ground.

"Easy there. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Uh, yeah. I just need a second," she leaned against him waiting for the room to stop spinning.

When she was confident she wouldn't fall over, she took a step back and looked up at him.

"Thank you for coming over, for listening, for being so nice to me even if you didn't really have any reason to be."

"Avery's my friend, you're his girl. That's all the reason I needed," he shrugged. "Now come on, let's get the hell out of here."


End file.
